French cinema: 1940s
La Symphonie pastorale (1946)
Jean Delannoy
The young pastor of a mountain village adopts a small blind girl, Gertrude. As Gertrude grows up into an attractive young woman the pastor, now middle-aged, realises that he is in love with her...
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Jean Delannoy
Le Tempestaire (1947)
Jean Epstein
On a small island off the coast of Brittany, a young woman and her grandmother are sitting at a spinning wheel when the door to their cottage suddenly opens of its own accord...
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Jean Epstein
Tête blonde (1949)
Maurice Cam
As he heads home one evening, Frédéric Truche is delighted when he spies an abandoned parcel on a luggage rack in the Paris metro...
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Maurice Cam
Un ami viendra ce soir (1946)
Raymond Bernard
August 1944. On the outskirts of a small village in the French Alps, Dr Lestrade manages an asylum for the mentally deranged...
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Raymond Bernard
Un revenant (1946)
Christian-Jaque
Impresario Jean-Jacques Sauvage returns to his home town of Lyons, ostensibly to stage a new ballet production, but as he renews old acquaintances it is evident that he has darker motives in mind...
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Christian-Jaque
Une si jolie petite plage (1949)
Yves Allégret
It is not the most welcoming of places - a barren stretch of coastline in northern France, made more inhospitable by the pounding rain and howling sea breeze... [More...]
Yves Allégret
It is not the most welcoming of places - a barren stretch of coastline in northern France, made more inhospitable by the pounding rain and howling sea breeze... [More...]
Le Val d'enfer (1943)
Maurice Tourneur
The foreman of a quarry in the Haute-Provence region of France, Noël Bienvenu lives with his elderly parents after the death of his wife... [More...]
Maurice Tourneur
The foreman of a quarry in the Haute-Provence region of France, Noël Bienvenu lives with his elderly parents after the death of his wife... [More...]
Van Gogh (1948)
Alain Resnais
Today, Vincent Van Gogh is considered one of the most important artists in western culture. His output was phenomenal and he leaves behind an impressive body of work that includes over eight hundred oil paintings... [More...]
Alain Resnais
Today, Vincent Van Gogh is considered one of the most important artists in western culture. His output was phenomenal and he leaves behind an impressive body of work that includes over eight hundred oil paintings... [More...]
La Vie de bohème (1945)
Marcel L'Herbier
Paris in the 1840s. Schaunard, Colline, Marcel and Rodolphe are four young artists who are determined to make a name for themselves... [More...]
Marcel L'Herbier
Paris in the 1840s. Schaunard, Colline, Marcel and Rodolphe are four young artists who are determined to make a name for themselves... [More...]
Les Visiteurs du soir (1942)
Marcel Carné
In the 15th century, two travelling musicians named Gilles and Dominique arrive at the castle of Baron Hugues, just as a party is in progress to celebrate the impending marriage of Hugues' daughter Anne to the brave knight Renaud... [More...]
Marcel Carné
In the 15th century, two travelling musicians named Gilles and Dominique arrive at the castle of Baron Hugues, just as a party is in progress to celebrate the impending marriage of Hugues' daughter Anne to the brave knight Renaud... [More...]
Volpone (1941)
Maurice Tourneur
Volpone is one of the wealthiest merchants in Venice, but when his ships laden with cargo fail to arrive on time he faces an ignoble ruin... [More...]
Maurice Tourneur
Volpone is one of the wealthiest merchants in Venice, but when his ships laden with cargo fail to arrive on time he faces an ignoble ruin... [More...]
Le Voyageur de la Toussaint (1943)
Louis Daquin
After the death of his parents, Gilles Mauvoisin returns to his hometown of La Rochelle. On his arrival, he is surprised to learn that his uncle, the successful businessman Octave Mauvoisin, has recently died and left him his entire fortune... [More...]
Louis Daquin
After the death of his parents, Gilles Mauvoisin returns to his hometown of La Rochelle. On his arrival, he is surprised to learn that his uncle, the successful businessman Octave Mauvoisin, has recently died and left him his entire fortune... [More...]